The president will submit an Adoption Law Bill to facilitate the process so that children who so require can be incorporated into a family.

The president will instruct Congress to reform the General Law of the National Public Security System, which includes the National Conference of Administrative Authorities specializing in the implementation of measures for adolescents.

“We must continue advancing, with determination and commitment, in order to protect the rights of children and adolescents”. EPN

Author

Presidencia de la República

Publication date

December 21, 2017

Category

Press Release

We will continue working so that children and adolescents can fully exercise their rights and enjoy the welfare and development that corresponds to them, he said.

A nation that looks after its children, protects their rights and supports their development, will always be more prosperous and successful. Above all, it will be a responsible, dignified and just nation. Let's keep working to achieve this, he said.

When it comes to working for children and adolescents in Mexico, to improve their present and ensure a better future, every effort counts and no-one should be sidelined, he said.

The president closed the Ordinary Session of the National System for the Integral Protection of Children and Adolescents.

Noting that, “When it comes to working for children and adolescents in Mexico, to improve their present and ensure a better future, every effort counts and no-one should be left on the sidelines,” President Enrique Peña Nieto reported that, “In 2018 we will present an Adoption Bill to guarantee rights for this segment of children and adolescents who live in an extremely vulnerable situation”.

“Through this legal framework, we will seek to facilitate the process of adoption in Mexico, so that children who so require can be incorporated into a family,” he said.

The president added that he will, “Ask Congress, in keeping with the National Law of the Comprehensive System of Criminal Justice for Adolescents, to reform the General Law of the National Public Security System so that the National Conference of Specialized Administrative Authorities is included in the implementation of measures for adolescents”.

“We will continue working so that children and adolescents can fully exercise their rights and enjoy the welfare and development that corresponds to them, he said.

As he closed the Third Session of the National System for the Integral Protection of Children and Adolescents (SIPINNA), held in the Main Courtyard of the National Palace, the president declared: "We have the opportunity and responsibility to undertake actions to transform the lives of children and adolescents in Mexico and change the future of our country”.

He said that, “A nation that looks after its children, protects their rights and supports their development, will always be more prosperous and successful. Above all, it will be a responsible, dignified and just nation. Let's keep working to achieve this”.

He added that, “When it comes to working for children and adolescents in Mexico, to improve their present and ensure a better future, every effort counts and no-one should be sidelined”.

“We must continue advancing, with determination and commitment, in favor of protecting the rights of children and adolescents,” he said.

There are almost 40 million people in the country who are 17 years old or younger. “Nearly one in three Mexicans is a minor, which entails a great commitment and an enormous responsibility,” he added.

"It means acting decisively to reduce the infant mortality rate and reverse the increase, observed in the previous decade, of pregnancies among girls and adolescents; it means preventing the obesity suffered by millions of children in our country and preventing them from living in conditions of poverty. It means, in short, offering a better present to children and adolescents, and investing in a better future for our country,” he declared.

The president added that, “As parents, as government and society, we hold the present and the future of a third of the population in our hands”.

Therefore, he added, "Working to ensure that our children and adolescents have the opportunities and conditions that allow them to grow and develop fully has been a permanent commitment of the government”.

The president recalled that the enactment of the General Law on the Rights of Children and Adolescents, the first preferential bill he promoted, “Marked the beginning of a great transformation for Mexico for the benefit of our children”.

He said that this laid the foundations for creating the National Protection System and the National Protection Program in the matter, which guarantee the integral protection of children in Mexico and link the work of the Federal Public Administration to the participation of civil society.

He said that in order to ensure the implementation of this Program, “We created the Executive Secretariat of the System, the Federal Attorney’s Office for the Protection of Children and Adolescents, and the National Information System for Children and Adolescents”.

“These are advances that enable us to have the most solid legal and institutional framework in our history, regarding the protection of children’s rights,” he declared.

The president said that this undoubtedly constitutes significant progress. However, he added, “We all know that laws on their own do not change the reality of people; what makes the difference is their effective implementation”.

He said that in order to coordinate the actions of the National Program, the 25 by 25 National Policy was approved, which establishes the 25 priorities with clear indicators and goals in terms of survival, development, protection and participation we must meet by 2025”.

"The multi-sectoral effort for girls, boys and adolescents perfectly matches the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Through this action, Mexico became the first country in the world to create a specific agenda for children and adolescents, aligned with the 17 Objectives of the UN Sustainable Development Agenda,” he said.

BEYOND SPECIFIC CIRCUMSTANCES, THE CHILDREN AND YOUTH OF MEXICO ALWAYS DESERVE TO BE AT THE CENTER OF ALL OUR EFFORTS:MIGUEL ÁNGEL OSORIO CHONG

Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong, Secretary of the Interior and Alternate President of SIPINNA, said that beyond specific circumstances, the children and youth of Mexico cannot and should not wait because they deserve to always be at the center of all our efforts, and “because the Democratic Mexico and the rights we all want begin with the comprehensive protection of every girl and boy in every corner of the country”.

He said that, “A nation can only achieve its full development when it does so thinking of girls, boys and adolescents when they are assumed as subjects of rights and when the conditions for their integral protection are guaranteed”.

He explained that, “The national challenge entailed by this law is of great importance, because it implies transformations in the branches of the three orders of Government, autonomous bodies, private enterprise and all social spheres”.

He considered that it is a paradigm shift in the actions of the institutions, in favor of a Mexico with no room for any of the inequalities that still weigh on children and youth.

He informed President Peña Nieto that work has been done to comply with the law's mandate, by implementing a wide range of actions throughout the country.

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF POLICIES TO PROMOTE EARLY CHILD DEVELOPMENT IS ONE OF THE BEST SOCIAL INVESTMENTS:JOSÉ NARRO ROBLES

José Narro Robles, Secretary of Health and Coordinator of the Early Childhood Development Committee, referring to the Early Childhood Agreement, said that, “The establishment of policies to promote early childhood development is one of the best social investments, with large returns, and corresponds to an ethical imperative of national states”.

He said that significant progress has been made in the Commission, such as the Comprehensive Agreement for Early Childhood, which puts children and adolescents at the center of actions, as holds of rights; and the adoption of 20 priority topics, the construction of a situational diagnosis and the definition of indicators and goals.

He also announced that work has also begun on the issuance of the Electronic Birth Certificate, which will provide timely information. He said that breastfeeding is also being encouraged, and although this has improved substantially in the past two years, “We are still far from reaching the level that would be desirable”.

THE NEW EDUCATION MODEL MAKES IT POSSIBLE TO INCLUDE THE ESSENTIAL LINES OF ACTION OF THE NATIONAL PROGRAM FOR THE PROTECTION OF GIRLS, CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS:OTTO GRANADOS ROLDÁN

Secretary of Public Education, Otto Granados Roldán, said that the new Education Model "Is already making it possible to have an instrument in Mexico for the first time ever on the learning path and curricular approach,” to include the lines of essential action of the National Program for the Protection of Children and Adolescents.

By providing a report on the progress made by the SEP within the framework of the National System for the Comprehensive Protection of Children and Adolescents, he noted that going back to class has been a very high priority in the wake of the earthquakes last September. "The commitment with the state governments is that nearly 100% of classes will be resumed no later than January 15,” he said.

THE DIF STATE SYSTEMS ACCOMPANY THE GOVERNMENT AS A STATE THAT ATTENDS CHILDREN IN AN INTEGRAL FASHION:LAURA BARRERA FORTUL

The national DIF, together with the 32 state systems, accompany the results that consolidate the government as a state that provides integral assistance for its children, complying with the line of action of the National Development Plan, said Director General of the National DIF System Laura Barrera Fortul.

She said that President Peña Nieto is the first president to, “Instruct early child development actions to be implemented, in an attempt to enable this Administration to implement Nelson Mandela's statement: There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children”.

THE APPROVAL OF THE GENERAL LAW FOR THE PROTECTION OF GIRLS, CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENT CREATES A NEW PARADIGM AND GOOD THINGS HAVE BEEN DONE:SAVE THE CHILDREN

María Josefina Menéndez, Executive Director of Save The Children in Mexico, said that “The passage of the General Law for the Protection of Children and Adolescents as a preferential bill in your administration creates a new paradigm in relation to children and good things have been done”.

She added that, given the size of the gaps and the challenges, “Today we have a great historical opportunity as a country, to do many other things for childhood that also count”.

She said that that Mexico's role as a, “Pioneering country of the Global Alliance to end violence against children and adolescents must be honored. Let’s use programs providing care and a culture of protection, to prevent all the situations of abuse, abuse, violence and exploitation of which many thousands of Mexican children and adolescents are victims today.

TOGETHER THE FIRST OBJECTIVES OF THE GENERAL LAW OF THE RIGHTS OF CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS ARE BEING ACHIEVED:CONAGO

José Rosas Aispuro Torres, Governor of Durango, on behalf of the National Conference of Governors (CONAGO), said that over two years after the implementation of the General Law on the Rights of Children and Adolescents, “The first objectives established are being achieved as a result of the sum of efforts of the three orders of government, as well as organized civil society.

He thanked President Peña Nieto for guaranteeing the rights of children and adolescents and for, “The determined effort his Administration has made to build the mechanism to eliminate this problem, whose consequences can be fatal to the physical and mental health of this important sector of the population,” he added.

“I recognize those who have initiated this process, and today it is the turn of those of us who continue in this responsibility to consolidate the legal, political, institutional, cultural and budgetary changes, in favor of those aged 0 to 17,” he declared.

THE FOLLOWING AGREEMENTS WERE PASSED AT THE EVENT:

First. Approval, in general terms, of the indicators and goals of the national objectives of the rights of children and adolescents, 25 to 25, which are linked to the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals Mexico has signed, modifying Agreement 09/2016, approved during the Second Ordinary Session of the System.

Second. Approval of the activities report of the Executive Secretariat of SIPINNA, in compliance with the regulations of the law, corresponding to the period August 2016-November 2017.

Third to seventh. Incorporation, as permanent guests, into the SIPINNA sessions of the following government agencies: Secretariat of Tourism, Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources, Secretariat of Public Administration, Secretariat of Economy and the National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples.

Eighth. Approval of the SIPINNA organization and operation manual and modifications to the general guidelines for the integration, organization and operation of its committees.

Ninth. Approval of the guidelines for the integration, organization and operation of the Advisory Board of this system.

Tenth. Approval of the Executive Secretariat of SIPINNA as the representative of Mexico on the Board of Directors of the Inter-American Institute of Children and Adolescents of the OAS, and the fact that the Federal Protection Office should have alternate representation.

Eleventh. Approval of the change of name of the Commission for Early Childhood Development to the Commission for Early Childhood.

Twelfth. Dissolution of the Commission of Integral Justice for Adolescents in Conflict with the law approved in the inaugural session of this System to align its actions with the inter-institutional working group for the development of the strategy to implement the National Law of the Integral System of Criminal Justice for Adolescents, created and already operating within the National Public Security System.

Thirteenth. Approval, at the request of the Federal Institute of Telecommunications, of the creation of the Commission on Information Technologies and Audiovisual Content aimed at children and adolescents.